


Tied in Red

by TheNewCancer



Series: Ereri Week 2015 [7]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: "you can't catch me gay thoughts", Day 7, Denial of Feelings, Eren/Levi centric, Ereri Week, F/M, M/M, Red String of Fate, Soulmates, Starbucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 10:01:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4096747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNewCancer/pseuds/TheNewCancer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Shit, man, I'm sorry..." Eren mumbled, flustered, as he reached for the other man's hand to help him back on his feet. The man looked up at him with thin gray eyes narrowed into a scowl.</p><p>"Don't touch me." He spat, pushing himself off the ground, dusting his suit off, and reclaiming his fallen briefcase. "Moron."</p><p>Eren's jaw dropped as the man shouldered past him and continued on his way. The fucking nerve of some people... if the other man didn't look so much stronger than him, he would've... would've...</p><p>"Let me go, brat." The man's voice came again, though he should have been long gone by then. Eren turned, and he was surprised to see the man was still standing behind him. "Umm... why are you still here...?"</p><p>"Because you're holding my hand. Let it go. I told you not to touch me." He said, glaring at Eren with a most terrifying expression Eren had ever seen on a person.</p><p>"I'm not touching you." Eren snapped in response. The man scoffed and looked down, and his eyes widened in fear.</p><p>Eren, confused, followed the man's gaze, and his jaw dropped again. "Oh dear Lord..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tied in Red

**Author's Note:**

> Quick note: So, I can't credit myself for the idea for this story. The universe it is set in is that of the lovely artist/author of an equally lovely webcomic by the same name of this story, over on SmackJeeves. I encourage all who've read and enjoyed this story to go support her, since she' she reason this story is here in the first place. Even if you didn't enjoy this story, you should still go check it out because it's better and you'll probably enjoy it more. 
> 
> Link:  
> http://www.smackjeeves.com/comicprofile.php?id=146663

Eren yawned. It was too early for this. I mean yeah, having a job was a necessity. He didn't want to live in poverty. But seriously, six in the morning? It was too much.

He felt ashamed going into Starbucks. Men didn't drink Starbucks. That was for teenage girls. Or whatever. But he needed coffee, and Armin had a Starbucks card. So there he stood, waiting for a S'mores frappucino. Dignity in shambles.

"S'mores Frap for... Eren?" The Barista called. Eren sighed, took his coffee with a small smile, and turned around to leave. Upon looking down at his cup, he realized that, yet again, they had spelled his name wrong.

"Tch, Erin... can't they see I'm a guy? Why would my name be spelled like that?" He mumbled to himself, shaking his head and taking a sip. He paused mid-slurp, blinking.

He looked down at himself as he expertly dodged fellow pedestrians on his way down the street, taking note of his stylish gray sweater (given to him by Armin), distressed denim skinny jeans (from Armin), and baby blue Vans. (Living with a gay roommate had its perks. Free clothes, for example.) Paired with his shaggy brown hair, unnaturally big green eyes, and the piercing on his right ear... wait...

He looked like a fag.

Before his sudden realization took its full effect on him, he slammed straight into another person, knocking both of them off of their feet and onto the ground and spilling Eren's coffee in the process.

"Shit, man, I'm sorry..." Eren mumbled, flustered, as he reached for the other man's hand to help him back on his feet. The man looked up at him with thin gray eyes narrowed into a scowl.

"Don't touch me." He spat, pushing himself off the ground, dusting his suit off, and reclaiming his fallen briefcase. "Moron."

Eren's jaw dropped as the man shouldered past him and continued on his way. The fucking _nerve_  of some people... if the other man didn't look so much stronger than him, he would've... would've...

"Let me go, brat." The man's voice came again, though he should have been long gone by then. Eren turned, and he was surprised to see the man was still standing behind him. "Umm... why are you still here...?"

"Because you're holding my hand. Let it go. I told you not to touch me." He said, glaring at Eren with a most terrifying expression Eren had ever seen on a person.

"I'm not touching you." Eren snapped in response. The man scoffed and looked down, and his eyes widened in fear.

Eren, confused, followed the man's gaze, and his jaw dropped again. "Oh dear Lord..."

* * *

 

"Soulmates..." Eren mumbled, staring off into space with disbelief. "We're... you're my soulmate..." He pressed his fingers into his eyebrows, trying to wrap his mind around the concept itself.

The man wasn't saying anything. They had sit themselves down on a nearby bench. Pedestrians walked by them. Some saw the tiny red string tying their pinkies together, some whispered. Some "awwed." But the two themselves were just... in shock. Denial. Confusion.

"I have a girlfriend... what am I even supposed to tell her...?" Eren mumbled, leaning over his knees and rubbing his temples. His elbows dug into his thighs, as they had been since he'd sat down, and they were starting to hurt. But he didn't care much. He was too preoccupied with other things. Like, say, his supposed soulmate.

"Say something." Eren turned to the man after a few more moments of silence. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"What do you want me to say?" The man turned to him, uncrossing his legs. Eren shrugged. "I don't know. Something." He said. "Your name would be a nice place to start."

"Levi." The man said. Eren nodded. "Levi." He repeated. "I'm Eren."

"Isn't that a girl's name?"

"E-R-E-N."

"Did your parents hate you?"

"Well, my dad's name was Grisha..."

"Do all of the men in your family have girl names?"

"Hey, don't gender-discriminate."

"I wasn't." Levi said. "I just said it was a feminine name."

"Joke." Eren's slight smile faded and he turned away again. "I was joking. You were supposed to laugh."

"Whatever." Levi stood, yanking Eren up with him. "Come on, let's go break this thing." He grabbed his briefcase and tugged Eren along with the string. Eren blushed a bright red, and cringed as the string tightened around his pinkie.

"Hold up, hold up...!" Eren stumbled along, to trying to slow the man as much as he could. "You know what that means, right?"

"Yes."

"But... we're both guys, and..."

"Just hurry up, dumbass. I have a meeting to get to. I want to get this over with as soon as possible."

"Look, could you just...!" Eren grabbed Levi's hand, yanking him to a stop. They divided the flow of the crowd similar to how a rock divides the swift flow of a river. Eren was aware of how many stares they'd gotten earlier, sitting on the bench, but now it was like the entire planet faded out of relevance and into his peripheral vision. He drew a delicate breath.

"Hold on." He said, quieter, as Levi stared deadpan into his eyes. "I mean, this string... it means that we're..." Eren glanced down at the crimson thread uneasily as he mumbled the remainder of his sentence. "Soulmates, right...?"

"... Right."

"So you want to break it, like that, without considering what we could... you know..." Eren mumbled, blushing a bit more as he looked back down at the thread to avoid Levi's stern gray eyes. Levi scoffed.

"I'm not gay." He said.

"Neither am I." Eren glanced back up at him. Levi looked him up and down.

"You sure?" Levi raised an eyebrow. Eren cringed and shook his head. "Look, the point is, we have a week to determine whether or not we really could be lovers. So we should take our time, right?"

"Didn't you say you had a girlfriend?"

"It's..." Eren sighed. "It's complicated. I think... I think we should talk to someone who knows more about it."

"You mean those stupid info clinics?" Levi snorted (which was strange because normally when people snort, they crack even the smallest of smiles, but this guy seemed incapable of doing so). "No way."

"No, no... those make me uncomfortable too." Eren gave a small chuckle. "I meant my roommate."

* * *

 

"Oh, Eren!" Armin practically tackled the tannish brunette when he saw him tied to Levi. "I'm so proud!"

Eren gasped for air as the smaller blonde wrapped his arms tightly around his neck. "Because I got tied...?" He said, trying to pry them off. Levi just watched, unamused.

"Because it's a man!" Armin smiled and released Eren, looking up at Levi with a starry-eyed smile. "And a hunk too..." Armin's eyes fell a little bit. "Aww... I wish I got tied to you... you're hot..." Levi blinked, giving Eren a short, confused, slightly uncomfortable side-glance.

"I heard that, Goldilocks." A voice from the other room called, and Armin smiled and turned around. Eren, upon recognizing the voice, let his shoulders slump a bit and let out a disappointed breath. "I was hoping he wasn't here..."

Jean Kirschtein entered the room then, and grinned at Eren. "Howdy."

"I was complimenting Eren's soulmate." Armin said, sauntering into Jean's arms and swaying with him a bit. Jean smiled a bit more genuinely now, resting his chin on top of Armin's head as his eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them. "You finally got tied?"

"Who are these people...?" Levi asked, leaning slightly towards Eren without taking his eyes off of Jean and Armin.

"My roommate, Armin, and his asshole boyfriend, Jean." Eren said with a small, half-hearted smile. "They were tied a year ago. They've been in constant physical contact with each other ever since."

"Well, aside from bathroom breaks and Chipotle runs, yes." Jean, still smiling that smug little smile of his, reached over his shoulder to hold his hand out to Levi, while the other remained latched onto Armin's side. "Pleasure to meet you, mate."

Levi glanced down at Jean's hand, sighed, and took it gingerly. "The pleasure is... all mine." He said, giving it a small shake.

"He's lying." Eren said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm lying." Levi confirmed, pulling his hand back and wiping it on his jacket. "This encounter has yet to give me even the slightest ounce of pleasure."

Jean's eyebrow twitched. "Why don't we send you two to the bedroom then? Bet Eren could get you a little bit of pleas-" Armin elbowed Jean in the gut before he could finish his sentence. Jean grimaced and let his head fall.

"I'm guessing you two have questions?" Armin asked, smile widening as Jean muttered swear words into his shoulder.

* * *

 

"We broke our string on, like, the third day. Hornball here couldn't keep his hands off of me." Armin sat in Jean's lap now, on the old cotton recliner in the front room (which Armin had bought secondhand off of his old neighbor). Armin and Eren's apartment was nice. There were five rooms, counting the front room, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. There were two levels, the uppermost of the two taking on a loft-like structure and holding both bedrooms across from each other on balcony-like hallways overlooking the foyer. Armin had decorated it with warm, brownish-goldish-slightly reddish tones, and only second-hand items. But it still gave off a feeling of effortless professionalism. Just not quite the kind that suited Levi's particular tastes.

Jean shrugged, wrapping his arms a bit tighter around Armin's waist. "I had a boyfriend at the time, but it wasn't going well, and Armin was just..." The two met each other's eyes, and Jean's sentence faltered. "So perfect..."

"Was...?" Armin giggled and pressed his forehead against Jean's, letting his baby-blue eyes wander down from Jean's own eyes to his mouth. Jean smiled. "Is. My bad."

Eren cleared his throat. Him and Levi sat on the opposing side of a coffee table, on the brown wool felt couch (garage sale), awkwardly sitting hip to hip (as Armin had insisted). Armin and Jean, seemingly snapping out of the trances they'd put each other in, turned away from each other and back to Eren and Levi.

"That actually reminds me, Eren," Armin said, placing his coffee mug on one of the mosaic glass coasters (hand-me-downs from Armin's grandfather). "What are you gonna do about Mikasa...?"

"Mikasa?" Levi asked, turning to Eren. Since they were so close, Eren felt compelled to cower away, since now they were so close their noses were almost touching, but was barely able to resist the urge. "The girlfriend I mentioned."

"Oh, the poor girl is head over heels." Armin said, placing his hand over his mouth in sympathy. "She'd had a crush on him since were kids... I finally convinced Eren to ask her out in our senior year of highschool, but..."

"But something always felt wrong." Eren finished for him. He sighed. "It just always felt kind of... forced."

"How old are you now?" Levi asked.

"Twenty-two." Eren answered.

"That's a long time to string someone along."

"Yeah, well..." Eren cocked his head to shoo his bangs out of his eyes, a bit flustered. "It doesn't matter. It's-”

"Well it's going to matter if we're supposed to be soulmates."

"Look, I don't wanna talk about it, okay?"

"Oi." Jean cut in, to stop the rising tension and the gradual crescendo of vocal levels between the two. They sat back in their seats, and Eren crossed his legs so he wasn't touching Levi's hip anymore.

Armin looked between the two of them, and sighed. "Levi, are you a Capricorn?" He asked. Levi cocked his brow as he looked to the blonde. "What the hell kind of question is that?"

"Are you?" Armin persisted. Levi looked between the three young men before him, and sighed.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Armin likes horoscopes." Eren answered for him. Armin smiled and nodded. "A four year old could tell, honey."

"I'm not your honey." Levi spat sternly.

"Eren is an Aries." Armin ignored Levi's rude comment (however Jean looked slightly peeved). "Meaning that you two are extremely extremely incompatible."

"You know that's all nonsense, right?" Levi said carefully, with slight condescendence.

"Typical Capricorn." Armin said. Jean and Eren snorted together. Levi frowned.

"Describe your ideal partner." Armin said.

"What?"

"What do you look for in a man?"

"I don't look for men at all." Levi replied, but Armin laughed. "Fate says otherwise, babe."

"I'm not your-"

"Answer the question, Beef Cheeks." Armin cut him off, his voice clear and stern now. A surprising shift, compared to what had previously been a cheery, light-hearted tone. Levi narrowed his eyes, giving a spine-chilling glare. Armin held his stare, however, though Eren and Jean had to look away.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it." Levi said finally, breaking his gaze in favor of the wall beside him. Armin nodded. "I'll guess someone financially stable, upscale, loyal, responsible... most likely more on the submissive side. Am I right?"

Levi didn't respond, but eventually gave a curt nod. "I suppose."

"Well congratulations, mate, because Eren possesses exactly zero of these traits." Armin said, smiling. Jean laughed. Eren blushed.

"What the fuck, man?" He held his hands out in shocked offense. Armin held his own up in defense. "Chill, Rage Muffin, I have a point."

"Then get to it." Levi cut in impatiently.

"Eren, being an Aries, is more about the soul-to-soul connection. If you don't feel a spark now, don't expect one to form later on. Long story short, you need to find something to get you two sparking. Both of you need to find something in the connection that draws you in, makes you curious... gets you hooked." Armin explained. Eren and Levi exchanged side glances.

Armin smiled. "But once you find it, you won't be able to get enough of each other."

* * *

 

It took five days for that spark to catch. Armin and Jean played matchmakers, but nothing seemed to be working. Since both of them got "Red Week," as it was commonly known, off of work, they were spending time together 24/7. They went on dates, slept together, met friends, shared interests, but the two seemed impossibly incompatible. Eren refrained from calling Mikasa throughout the whole thing, since she was studying abroad and he didn't want to distract her from her studies. Nothing seemed to be working anyway, so he figured once it was all over he'd go back to awkwardly loving her.

They went out for ice cream on the third day. They sat together on a park bench, hip to hip (as Armin had insisted they sit at every opportunity to do so). Levi had gotten vanilla, and Eren chocolate. Levi paid.

"Who's Mikasa?" Levi asked after a while. Eren gagged, lurching forward and slapping a hand over his mouth in an attempt to prevent himself from spewing chocolate ice cream. He swallowed forcefully, and sat back up quickly to shake his head.

"Where the fuck did that even come from?" He said, wiping the corners of his mouth. He could feel the smallest of blushes forming across his cheeks, but turned away to hide them. "It doesn't matter who she is."

"Yes it does. She's your girlfriend, right?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm your boyfriend." Levi said sternly, looking Eren dead in the eye. Eren's blush grew drastically, painting his face in bright pink. B-b-b-b-buh... b-b-boyfruhh...

"/B-boyfriend/...?!" Eren repeated, totally unprepared for such casual use of the word. His heart was pounding, his hands shaking like crazy.

"That's what this is, isn't it?" Levi continued, a bit gentler now. "You can't keep her from me, and you can't keep me from her. Not for long."

"This won't last long." Eren said, squeezing his eyes shut to try and calm himself down. "I can't..." He sighed. "I can't give her another thing to worry about. It'd be better if she just never knew this happened."

"How do you know it won't?" Levi placed his bowl on the bench beside him, giving Eren his full attention. He'd been wearing the same expression the whole time, yet Eren could still somehow sense how his emotions changed, how everything he said seemed to make his eyes fade into a slightly different shade of grey. Nothing too drastic, and Eren had to really pay attention to notice it. But it was there.

"Red week is almost over." Eren said, avoiding Levi's eyes to prevent him from seeing the changes. "We haven't made any progress. We haven't caught any 'sparks,' and we haven't gotten any closer. We haven't even kissed."

"Do you love her?" Levi asked. Eren looked at him, debating how he should answer. He had actually half expected Levi to kiss him in defiance of his last comment, and felt slightly disappointed that he didn't.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I care about her." Eren explained. "She and Armin mean more than anything on this planet to me. We've been together so long, but..."

"But?"

"But there's no difference between the way I feel about her and the way I feel about Armin." Eren sighed, taking a lick of his neglected and slowly melting ice cream to keep it from dripping onto his hand. "I've never been in love, I don't think. Unless I really am in love with her. I don't know how it feels to really be in love, so I can't decide whether it's the kind of love she feels for me..." He sighed, realizing he was rambling and making little to no sense. "It's complicated."

"She loves you?"

"The word love is starting to not make sense now," Eren laughed softly, taking another lick of his ice cream. "But yes. She does."

"How long have you two been dating?"

"Four years."

"And your relationship hasn't progressed whatsoever?"

"Neither has this one."

"You're confiding in me now." Levi pointed out. "And a minute ago you suggested that I kiss you. That's progression."

Eren blushed. "What? No I didn't...!"

Levi scoffed. "It was obvious."

"Well you didn't do it anyway. That's not progression."

"Did you want me to?"

"Would you?"

"Answer the question."

"My answer depends on yours." Eren said, bringing their banter to a halt as the two realized just how close they were. Hips touching, like Armin had told them. Shoulders pressed together, faces mere inches away from each other. Lips mere inches away from contact. Their eyes danced between staring into each other and sneaking glances at the other's mouth.

"So would you?" Eren asked again softly. Levi's reply came without words, but expressed his answer quite clearly. That's when both of them felt the spark.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to go check out the original story! Thank you for reading!!! Comments are appreciated~
> 
> http://www.smackjeeves.com/comicprofile.php?id=146663


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